JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE EXIT ‘END OF AN ERA’ AS SOUDAL BOSS PATRICK LEFEVERE SAYS HE ‘DIDN’T WANT TO PAY THAT MONEY ANYMORE’
Soudal Quick-Step’s team manager Patrick Lefevere has been having his say on star rider Julian Alaphilippe’s departure, with the Frenchman joining Tudor Pro Cycling for next season. Alaphilippe raced for Quick-Step for the entirety of his career to date, with his now ex-boss – who at times was critical of the 32-year-old – calling his move the “end of an era.”
Julian Alaphilippe’s departure from Soudal Quick-Step marks the “end of an era,” says the team’s boss Patrick Lefevere.
Alaphilippe’s exit from the Belgian team he has called home for his whole career didn’t come as much of a surprise, given some of the comments his team boss had made in the previous months
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With Quick-Step building their team around superstar and two-time Olympic gold medallist Remco Evenepoel, the Frenchman’s departure was widely expected, with Fabian Cancellara’s Tudor team winning Alaphilippe’s signature for 2025 onwards
But Lefevere has dialled back on some of his previous remarks, instead paying tribute to a man who has been with the team for over a decade.
“We have a very long history together. The little guy came to us very young,” Lefevere said
We had a lot of work, but we also had a lot of fun together. It still hurts to see him leave. He was not just a rider, Julian is like a child of the family that you’re giving up.”
Alaphilippe’s previous pedigree speaks for itself, with two world titles, a spell in yellow at the 2019 Tour de France as well as numerous wins in the Spring Classics.
But he has struggled to replicate that form since, until a glimpse of the old Alaphilippe was seen earlier this season in the Giro
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